


You belong with me

by AnonymousSources



Category: Carmilla (Web Series)
Genre: Angst, F/F, F/M, Fluffy, HSAU, based very loosely on the Taylor Swift video "You Belong with Me", hopefully not to cheesy, underage drinking and smoking
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-07-24
Updated: 2015-12-21
Packaged: 2018-04-11 00:23:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Underage
Chapters: 6
Words: 9,590
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4413698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonymousSources/pseuds/AnonymousSources
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They used to be friends. In elementary school they were in the same fourth grade class with a teacher by the name of Ms. Dalton. They bonded over their shared hatred of the teacher and how she was constantly yelling at the pair of them and putting them in the corner.</p><p>***On Hiatus until Summer***</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first multi chapter work I've ever done so sorry if the writing kind of sucks. It's loosely based off of the Taylor Swift "You Belong with Me" video. Also I made Will about 6 years old because I think Big Sister Carmilla is just fantastic. Read away!

They used to be friends. In elementary school they were in the same fourth grade class with a teacher by the name of Ms. Dalton. They bonded over their shared hatred of the teacher and how she was constantly yelling at the pair of them and putting them in the corner. Carmilla had once been sent to the principles office for calling Ms. Dalton an "Evil Buttface" after being busted for sneaking toys to the corner for Laura to play with. Laura got a call home to her parents for kicking the evil teacher's leg after watching her grab Carmilla by the arm to drag her to the office. They were the best of friends and their adventures in torturing their teacher were known throughout the entire fourth grade.

When they moved on to the fifth grade, things simmered out. They were put in different classes, no teacher willing to take both of them after hearing about their fourth grade adventures. They would excitedly wave and say hi to each other in the hall and play together on the playground. But soon that stopped when Laura, ever the social butterfly, began hanging out with new people and Carmilla, Laura being her only friend, began to find pleasure in the new books she was now able to read. 

Middle school came and went. Causing an even farther rift in their friendship. Gone were the days of squealing and excited hugging in the hallways. Laura focused on her newfound popularity and grades. There wasn't time to return Carmilla's faint smiles and waves.

When Freshman year came around they completely stopped being friends. Laura and her new friends became the new "It" group, hanging out with boys and joining the cheerleading squad. Nothing changed for Carmilla, except for her new wardrobe and "Fuck You" attitude. She stuck by her books, reading more complicated philosophy and Shakespeare texts while making great friends with her English teacher.

Tenth grade was the worst for Carmilla. Laura's friends were ruthless, starting rumors about Carmilla being a vampire who slept in a cave and attacked unsuspecting girls. They hissed and pretended to bite each other when Carmilla walked by and soon got the whole grade in on the joke, some were even freshman who wanted to look cool. Laura looked on guiltily but never said anything, choosing to stay on the sidelines.

Things changed though when she met Elle. They were perfect together and no one messed with Elle and her group, who were the residential bad asses of West Silas High. Carmilla joined the group and soon they were getting into all kinds of trouble. Breaking laws, smoking, drinking, everything. Carmilla was having the time of her life and no one dared to pick on her.

But it took a nasty turn when they had broken into a run down Warehouse to drink their beer and mess around. The cops showed up around 2:30 am and they all ran for the hills. Carmilla sprinted away, thinking Elle was behind her. But when she reached the safety of the woods with her other friends, Elle was nowhere to be seen. Carmilla found out from JP that Elle had been passed out drunk and was still in the warehouse. Carmilla tried to go back to get her but her friends stopped her saying it was to late. 3 days later Carmilla found out that Elle had been shipped off to California to live with her Aunt and Uncle.

After that incident, Carmilla Karnstein was never the same. 

Well that was until Laura Hollis moved in next door.


	2. Sometimes All You Need is Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoy this chapter as much as the last one. Thank you for the comments and kudos!

Carmilla woke up to the smell of regret. Last nights activities hit her full force in the form of a raging hangover and the stench of alcohol on her breath. She carefully opened her crusted shut eyes and squinted as the sunlight from the window hit her directly in the face. She looked at her watch. 12:32 pm. Groaning, Carmilla slowly lifted her half dead body up and took in her surroundings.

 

She was on her living room sofa with a blanket thrown haphazardly over her legs. JP had probably put it on her after she had collapsed, passed out on the sofa. She was wearing a faded black shirt with some local band on it and her ripped skinny jeans. Upon looking around the room, Carmilla noticed a bottle of Advil and a sticky note with a message signed by JP.

_Hey last night was insane dude! Thanks for letting us celebrate at your place. Here’s some advil for that crazy hangover you’re going to have. Text me. -JP_

 

She crumbled the note and downed two pills dry.

 

Carmilla loved her friends. They were fun, crazy, and always looked after her and each other. But the aftermath of their parties always left her sick and dangerously hungover. She remembered JP texting her last night, letting her know he was on his way with the group to celebrate the end of the school year. They had come over. They had partied. And they had left, leaving Carmilla passed out.

 

Peeling herself off the couch, Carmilla stumbled her way to the kitchen faintly wondering where her little brother Will was before remembering she had locked him in his room with a coloring book and a sandwich. She never wanted him to see her like this. Drunk, hungover, stoned. He was too young for that, being only 6 years old. His mind to innocent to corrupt at such an early age. He loved Carmilla with all his heart and she didn’t want to ruin his perfect image he had of her.

 

Dragging herself up the stairs, Carmilla entered Will’s bedroom. He was sprawled out on the floor, coloring pages scattered around him as he furiously scribbled on a new page. Noticing his sister enter the room, Will looked up from his spiderman drawing and gave her a big smile.

 

“Kitty! I drew you some pictures just like you asked! Do you like them?” He scrambled to collect all of the pictures into a messy pile to show his sister, a proud grin lighting up his face. Carmilla gave him a small smile, heart squeezing at the love shown on the little boys face.

 

“They’re great Willy boy. I’ll add them to the rest.” She gently took the papers out of his hands, careful not to crumple any of them. Will followed her as she walked to her room, a big smile adorning his young face. Carmilla carefully stacked the pages and pulled out a bin filled with all of Will’s creations. She made a space among the craziness that was the box of arts and crafts to put the pictures so they wouldn’t get ruined.

Carmilla loved when Will came home from school with new creations and pictures from school. She kept all of them. From macaroni necklaces to month old bags of goop, she kept everything in this one box. The only thing she could touch and not feel like she would destroy it like everything else.

 

With trembling hands, Carmilla put the bin back in her closet and scooted herself back to her bed, leaning up against it as her head lolled back. Fighting the rising bile in her throat and pounding headache, she focused on Will and his worried expression.

 

“Kitty are you okay? Are you sick? Do you need a hug? I’m really good at those.” He rambled on nervously. Carmilla lifted her arm and hugged him close as he snuggled into her side. “I’ll be okay. I just woke up with a small tummy ache but I took some medicine.” She sighed. Will looked up at her in relief. “Oh that’s good. Sometimes I get tummy aches after sleepovers too.” He gave her one last hug and stood up. Carmilla's stomach turned when he said sleepover, almost causing her to puke right then and there. 

 

“Oh Kitty guess what!” Will said, suddenly perking up. “What?” Carmilla replied, closing her eyes and leaning back. “There are new people moving in next door!” He said jumping up and down excitedly. Carmilla’s eyes flew open as she jerked her head up, an action that she very much regretted as her head pounded harshly. “Wait, what?” The house next door had been foreclosed for months now. It was in desperate need of repair as the previous owner had trashed it, leaving broken furniture and the unpleasant stench of cat pee mixed with beer. Carmilla was very familiar with the condition of the house as her and her friends had broken into it on more than one occasion.

 

“Yeah! Can we go over later and meet the new people? I think I saw a kid my age!” Will looked at her pleadingly, his brown eyes wide and his mouth pulled into a pout. “The Look” was on full force and Carmilla knew she couldn’t deny him a new friend, no matter how hungover she was. Knowing she was going to regret this she sighed. “Make me a sandwich while I get ready.” Will’s face brightened as he shook with excitement. He ran out of the room with a whoop and quickly made his way downstairs to make the sandwich.

 

Carmilla dragged herself back to the closet to pick out a fresh pair of clothes to replace the day old ones. She smoothed down her rats nest known as her hair and dumped half a bottle of perfume to cover up the lingering smell of alcohol. Brushing her teeth, she made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Spitting into kitchen sink, she rinsed her mouth out and turned to a peanut butter covered boy.

 

“Hey Momma says we aren’t allowed to spit in the sink.” Will exclaimed, pointing at Carmilla accusingly. “Well Mom isn’t home.” Carmilla replied, snatching her messily made sandwich from Will, ruffling his flop of dark hair. “Wash your hands buddy. You can’t meet a new friend looking like a peanut butter monster.”

 

Will ran to the sink and stepped up on his small step stool, washing the substance off his hands while Carmilla scarfed down the sandwich and drank a tall glass of water. Will grabbed his favorite monster truck off the table and took ahold of Carmilla’s hand. Together, both siblings made their way out the front door to meet their new neighbors.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Follow my tumblr sweetlybeautifulenemy.tumblr.com


	3. Welcome to Hell

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow sorry it's been awhile! I don't really have an update schedule so just bare with me. I'll try to update as much as possible. Also I would like to apologize for the awful pun I decided to add in. Enjoy!

Laura silently cursed herself for thinking she was able to lift such a heavy box without any help. The thing weighed at least seventy pounds and the box was half her height, which wasn’t saying much. Being 5’2” at sixteen years old had its serious disadvantages.

As her wobbling arms slowly started to give out, Laura reconsidered taking her dad’s offer of help but quickly dismissed the idea. She had already subjected him to a twenty-minute lecture on women being just as capable of carrying heavy boxes as men and her feminist pride refused her going back on that.

Laura’s tiny frame shook unsteadily as she took wobbling steps on the chipped stepping stones leading up the house, stopping halfway up the hill to take a break and help her poor spaghetti noodle arms. Laura wanted to get a good look at the house, this being her first time seeing it. Her dad had mentioned the new house would need a few repairs, inside and out but it being a fixer upper was part of the appeal.

She carefully set (more like dropped) the box down on the lawn and took a look of the structure in front of her, cradling her limp arms. Her eyes widened as she took in the sight of the rotting orange paint and busted in windows. When her dad had said it had an _appeal_ she didn’t think he meant the paint.

 _It has to be nicer on the inside… Hopefully._ She thought to herself, grimacing.

Picking up her (“Seriously did this thing get _heavier?!”)_ box, she unceremoniously made her way up the rest of the hill, praying the house was at least a little more comforting to the eye on the inside.

Apparently God was not on her side as she burst through the ‘falling off the hinges’ door and into the horror known as their new _humble abode._

It started with the smell, making Laura instantly drop her burdensome weight. The stench seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere as Laura desperately scrambled to cover her nose with her thin tank top to prevent passing out. The place smelled horribly like a mixture of cat pee and cheap beer, none of which smelled great separately and together made her eyes water.

Gasping, she took in the view that was supposedly their _fixer upper_ of a new home, as her dad had wonderfully put it.

There was broken down furniture everywhere. Glass shards littered the floor and mustard yellow carpets, creating a minefield in which one wrong step barefoot would leave you hospitalized for a week. The walls were a puke green color with unidentified red splotches on them that looked suspiciously like blood. The house was boiling hot and the distinct sounds of scurrying rats were heard deeper in the house up the crumbling stairs.

Laura’s body was in a permanent state of shock, refusing to move as her brain slowly tried to process the dump that was her new living quarters. Her dad bounded down the unsteady stairs with a big goofy grin and happiness radiating off him in waves. 

“What do you think Laur? Isn’t it wonderful?” Charlie Hollis looked at his daughter’s gaping expression and took it as one of wonderful surprise. He was always woefully blinded to the reality of things, seeing only what he wanted to see. Laura on the other hand felt like she was going into anaphylactic shock.

She finally recovered from her temporary paralysis when her dad clapped a big hand against her back, almost knocking her over. “Isn’t this great Little Bear? I told you a fresh start would be great for us.” Laura looked at him incredulously.

 “Dad don’t you think this place is, ah, a little, _unsafe_?” 

 “Not at all. Sure it needs a few repairs—”

 “A few?!”

 “And we will definitely have to repaint the walls—“

 “I don’t know paint that’s able to cover up blood stains—“

 “Maybe hire a contractor—“

 “Yeah maybe hire a whole construction crew while you’re at it—“

 “Nonsense Laura! There’s nothing a determined Hollis can’t do! We’ll have this place cleaned up and in good shape in no time. This’ll be good for us. I know it.” He put his burly arm across Laura’s shoulders, hugging her close.

Laura sighed. This was the first time he was genuinely excited about something and after everything they had been through together in the past four years, she knew these distractions would drag him away from old habits. Laura would gladly push down any uncomfortable feelings about their new house for a chance at renewed happiness with her father.

Swallowing her disgust and plastering the biggest smile she could on her face, Laura turned to her dad. “I’m sure this place will be awesome looking dad. You do know how I just love building things.” Laura said, awkwardly leaning up against the stair case railing. She squeaked when the flimsy piece of wood broke under her weight, nearly taking down the entire staircase.

Charlie gave his daughter a loving look as she fumbled to pick up the splintered railing while apologizing profusely. “Laura it’s perfectly okay. I will clean up and make sure everything is up and running by the end of the day. Starting with the AC. My God it is hot in here. Lets go outside I’m starting to feel like a rotisserie chicken.”

Upon hearing her father’s words, Laura gladly jumped at the chance to get out of the house from hell. The heat and the smelly air were really starting to mess with her head, seeing as it probably wasn’t normal to see balls of floating light race around the room in Technicolor.

Forgetting the pieces of broken lumber, Laura took off through the door, almost choking on the long desired clean air. Dropping to her hands and knees, she took in large, deep breaths.

“FRESH— AIR— I LIVE!!!” Laura gasped out. So maybe she was being a _tad_ overdramatic with the whole rolling on the ground and acting out a poorly written revival scene but hey, after experiencing the inside of THAT house she was allowed to be a bit presumptuous.

“Well, aren’t we a bit of a drama queen?” An amused voice spoke out, startling Laura out of her, erm, “Performance”. Laura huffed as she lifted herself from the ground and focused on wiping off her white shirt, now covered in a fine layer of dirt and dust.

“Excuse me but you would probably be feeling the same way after experiencing the awful air in that house!” She spat, not looking up. “Let me guess… a lovely mix of cat pee and cheap beer? Truly the epitome of new house smells.”

Laura took note at how the voice sounded vaguely familiar as she looked up from her shirt at the stranger. Or who she wished was a stranger as she gasped and took a step back, almost passing out for a second time that day.

“Why so surprised? Never seen a _vampire_ out in the daylight before?” Carmilla Karnstein spat, signature glare and smirk plastered on her face. She was holding hands with a small dark haired boy who was clutching a green monster truck.

“W-What are you d-doing here?” Laura managed to get out, her wide eyes looking at Carmilla with guilt and a bit of fear. Carmilla Karnstein didn’t exactly have a squeaky clean reputation and Laura wasn’t exactly on good terms with her.

“I’m your new Neighbor, sweetheart.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on Tumblr sweetlybeautifulenemy.tumblr.com


	4. Awkward Introductions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My apologies for taking so long to update. School just started and I've been SUPER busy. Anyways after dealing with a super guilty conscious and multiple threats from my best friend I have FINALLY updated. Enjoy!

Carmilla squinted as the bright sunlight immediately attacked her face, making her head throb. It was a clear, humid day and the sun was directly above them in the sky. It was only a week into summer and already it felt like one hundred degrees outside. She knew she should’ve worn some sunglasses and maybe a lighter shirt.

Will was talking her ear off as they made their way across their small yard and through the tiny gate to their new neighbors house.

 

“Do you think the new family has any kids my age?”

 

“I don’t know Will.”

 

“Do you think they will have any pets like a turtle or ooh maybe a snake?”

 

“I don’t know Will”

 

“What if the new family is a secret family full of spies who are undercover to find a priceless ruby and have to fight giant monsters and have special guns with lasers that go pew pew pew!”

 

Will let go of Carmilla’s hand and ran ahead, pretending to talk into a walky talky while shooting a finger gun. With each step they took he was grating on Carmilla’s nerves more and more, and she was seriously considering how far she would be able to punt him across the yard, when she heard gasping noises like someone dying.

Carmilla was never one for expectations. She never expected her mom to return from her business trips in a decent amount of time. She never expected kids her age to be able to hold a decent conversation about Albert Camus without them giving her a blank stare. But what she definitely didn’t expect was the one and only Queen of the Button Ups, Laura Hollis, rolling around on dead grass in nothing but a white tank top and cheerleading shorts gasping for fresh air and acting out a poorly written revival scene.

To say Carmilla was surprised was truly an understatement. Anger and contempt brewed in the pit of her stomach. This had to be a joke. There is no way in Hell she did anything bad enough to deserve this. Carmilla’s eyes hardened as she took hold of Will’s hand, grasping hard enough that he let out a small squeak but didn’t say anything as he looked at Carmilla curiously.

“FRESH—AIR—I LIVE!!!” Laura was gasping out. Carmilla snorted humorlessly at Laura’s dramatics. The cupcake was always one for exaggerated performances.

“Well, aren’t we a bit of a drama queen?” Carmilla finally called out, having enough of the theatrics. The teen on the ground huffed as she slowly stood up and wiped the dirt and grass off her clothes. Carmilla tried not to stare as she quickly set her face into an indifferent mask, looking everywhere but Laura. As much as Carmilla hated to admit it, Laura was gorgeous and the tank top and short shorts were very distracting.

 

“Excuse me but you would probably be feeling the same way after experiencing the awful air in that house!” Laura spat, not yet looking up.

“Let me guess… a lovely mix of cat pee and cheap beer? Truly the epitome of new house smells.” Carmilla’s snark always grew to extreme levels when faced with an inflammatory situation.

If Carmilla hadn’t been so resentful to seeing Laura so soon after school let out, she probably would’ve burst out laughing at how fast Laura reacted to that one. Her head shot up from her incessant shirt picking to glare at Carmilla, but that glare quickly faded as she recognized whom she had been talking to. Laura’s eyes widened and a multitude of emotion crossed her face. Anger, Surprise, Horror, Fear, and one that surprised Carmilla the most: Guilt.

“Why so surprised? Never seen a _vampire_ out in the daylight before?” Carmilla smirked, watching as Laura opened and closed her mouth repeatedly, resembling a fish. Will let out a small whine and Carmilla realized she was probably crushing his tiny hand in her iron lock grip. She loosened her grip just a tad to prevent herself from breaking his hand but not enough to where he could run off.

“W-What are you d-doing here?” The dark blonde looked like she was about to have an aneurysm. Carmilla was a little bit surprised by Laura’s inability to form words without stuttering. After everything that had happened between them during the years since fourth grade, Carmilla expected herself to be the stuttering mess. They had had a messy past. A pretty much unfixable one in terms of forgiveness.

“I’m your new Neighbor, Sweetheart.” Carmilla replied easily. She refused to ever lose her cool in front of people. Laura grew ever bigger as her mouth completely dropped open. “Careful Cutie. You’ll catch flies with that large mouth of yours.” Carmilla let out a small chuckle as Laura snapped her mouth shut and glared at her, all previous emotions replaced by anger. “There is no WAY this is happening! You are not my neighbor…. You can’t be!” “Yeah well I’m not exactly happy about this arrangement either.” Carmilla replied coolly.

Anyone who knew Laura Hollis would question why Carmilla hated her so much. Laura was the epitome of sunshine and happiness, wrapped up in a tiny ball of energy. She tried to be friends with everyone even if they didn’t want to be friends with her. She was known as one of the nicest of the cheerleaders and hardly stepped on anyone’s toes. Carmilla would fully agree to this, if it wasn’t for the fact she knew what was really underneath all the optimism and peppy exuberance.

Suddenly, Carmilla felt a breeze in her hand and realized that Will was no longer grasping it but instead running up to stand in front of Laura, shoving his stupid green monster truck in her face.

“Hi! I’m William Eisen Luce. You can call me Will. I am six years old and going into the first grade at Silas Elementary. I like reading and playing with monster trucks!” Carmilla face palmed as she silently cursed the gods for her rotten luck. Will was violently pumping Laura’s arm in what Carmilla guessed was supposed to be a handshake, as Laura looked from Will to the monster truck and back to Carmilla curiously.

Before Carmilla could explain Will’s constant need to tell his life story to anyone and everyone, a large being approached the small group, completely blocking out the bright, summer sun. Carmilla noticed Laura grimace and craned her neck up to see a large man drape his equally large arm over the blonde’s shoulder, nearly knocking her over. “Little Bear! Whose your knew friend?” Carmilla snorted at the nickname as Laura shot her a quick glare before plastering a ridiculous fake smile on her face.

“Dad! This is Carmilla Karnstein! Our new neighbor!” Laura gritted out. Carmilla raised her hand in a small wave, smirking at Laura’s embarrassment. Mr. Hollis smiled big and wide as he grabbed Carmilla’s raised hand in a strong grip, giving it a quick shake.

Carmilla instantly pulled her hand back, giving the giant of a man an awkward smile. “Um… Yeah… Nice to meet you Mr. Hollis.” “Oh please Mr. Hollis is my father! Call me Charlie!” Laura groaned, hiding her face in her hands as she let out an exasperated, “Daaaad!”.

Out of the corner of her eye she saw Will make a move and knew that Mr. Hollis was about to be subjected to the same robotic introduction Laura had gotten.

“Hi! I’m William Eisen Luce. You can call me Will. I am six years old and going into the first grade at Silas Elementary. I like reading and playing with monster trucks!” Carmilla quickly slapped her hand over Will’s mouth and pulled him into her. “Sorry about him. He really likes introductions.” She apologized awkwardly.

Charlie Hollis grinned good-naturedly at Will and looked at Carmilla curiously. “Perfectly fine! Hey… you know you seem really familiar. Are you one of Laura’s cheerleading friends?” Carmilla’s faced immediately soured at the question. “Absolutely not. I don’t associate myself with a bunch of snobby low lives.” She replied. Laura made an offended noise. Laura’s dad ignored her last comment as he studied Carmilla, trying desperately to place her face.

Panic started to rise in Carmilla’s chest. There’s no way he could remember. Yeah they used to get in trouble A LOT but that was years ago. Carmilla desperately pleaded with the universe to just let him pass it off as déjà vu.

“Oh! I know! You were that girl in Laura’s fourth grade class!” _Oh Fuck You Universe._ “Yeah I remember you! Carmilla Karnstein, The Girl who helped torture that poor Ms. Dalton!” Carmilla felt like throwing up. _No no no! Don’t bring it up!_ She noticed the same reaction on Laura’s face. They locked eyes in mutual panic and Carmilla knew she needed to get out of there and fast before Mr. Hollis started reminiscing.

“Well would you look at the time Dad! We need to start moving boxes or else we’ll never get finished by nightfall!” Laura quickly said, tugging on her dad’s arm to get him moving. “Yeah and Will and I should really be getting home. Will needs his afternoon nap.” Carmilla grasped Will’s hand as he complained about being 6 years old and being to old for stupid baby naps.

“Well you should come over sometime when we get the house in order! You guys were such good friends! I remember when—“ Mr. Hollis started but Laura was practically football tackling him to get him to move. “Dad! Lets—Go—“ “Alright alright I’m going. Stop pushing me Laura. See you later Carmilla! You should definitely come over for dinner sometime! I make a mean casserole!”

Carmilla saluted noncommittally as she practically ran from the father and daughter, dragging a complaining Will behind her. It didn’t matter how mean his casserole was, Carmilla Karnstein would never go over to the Hollis’ for dinner.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr sweetlybeautifulenemy.tumblr.com


	5. Hard to control the Gay when there's a Shirtless Girl across from You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You get a long Chapter! And You get a long Chapter! A nice long chapter for everyone!

_The room was brightly colored and decorated with Christmas lights and snowmen. Snowflakes hung from the ceiling as children ran around underneath them, chasing each other with streamers and crayons. Ms. Dalton’s fourth grade class was having their annual Christmas party complete with kids hopped up on sugar and parents mingling around trying to clean up remnants of cupcakes and fruit punch._

_In the midst of all the excitement, a little golden haired girl sat alone at the corner table, her tongue poking out of her lips as she carefully tried to cut a snowflake. Shreds of failed snowflakes sat in a small pile at the edge of the table as she desperately tried to cut this one into a circular form. All the other snowflakes kept coming out square and frankly, Laura Hollis was having enough of that._

_She made one final triangular cut and dropped the scissors onto the table, praying this one would actually look like a snowflake and not a box with irregular holes in it. She carefully unfolded it and groaned when, yet again, it came out looking square. “I’m never going to get this right!!” Laura quickly discarded the offending snowflake into the pile of rejects and watched as the pile fell over the table and into a clump of trash on the floor. Harrumphing angrily, she folded her arms and laid her head down._

_Suddenly she felt a presence as someone sat down at the table next to her. She lifted her head to give the unwanted guest a glare when she saw who it was. It was the quiet, slightly scary girl who sat in the back of the class and never really talked. Her name was Camilla or Caramel or something like that. Laura’s glare turned into a look of confusion as she stared at the raven-haired girl._

_“Can I use these? Thanks.” The girl said as she grabbed the scissors Laura had been using and started cutting into her perfectly folded piece of paper. Laura watched, mesmerized, as the girl worked with distinct precision and careful cuts. Every incision fluid and in control, unlike Laura’s which were jerky and all over the place. Slowly, the girl put down her (or Laura’s rather) scissors and opened her perfect snowflake. It was actually circular and looked like it had just fallen from the sky and into the girl’s hands._

_The girl looked at the snowflake in disgust and crumbled it up, throwing it behind her and starting a new one as Laura looked at her shocked. “Why would you crumble it up?? That snowflake was really good!” Laura protested. The girl glared at her. “It wasn’t good enough.” She spat and continued on with her second snowflake. “No need to get angry I was just complimenting you jeez!” Laura huffed as she grabbed a new sheet of paper and tried to find a new pair of scissors, as the girl clearly gave no indication of giving hers back._

_Laura, eventually finding some scissors, tried to follow what the girl was doing, but gave up when the girl sped up her cutting process and Laura could no longer keep up. Laura sighed as she continued on with her snowflake and when finished, was not surprised that the product was yet again square._

_“That’s it! I am giving up!” Laura whined as she threw down her paper and scissors. “You’re folding it wrong.” The rude girl next to her mumbled. “Huh?” Laura looked over at her, confused. “Are you deaf? I said you are folding it wrong. When you’re starting out, fold your paper into a triangle instead of a square.” Laura looked down at her crumpled snowflake and decided to take the girl’s advice. Grabbing a new sheet she folded into the best triangle she could and began to cut, listening as the girl next to her mumbled pointers under her breath._

_When the bubbly fourth grader finished cutting she opened her snowflake, and although it wasn’t as perfect as the girl’s next to her, she squealed when she saw that it was actually circle and looked decent._

_“Wow Thanks!” Laura beamed and the girl shyly smiled back. But before the girl could reply, her perfect snowflake was ripped out of her hands and she was pushed out of her chair. “Awe what a cute little snowflake! Glad to know you can get something right!” Laura looked at the person who pushed the girl with anger. It was Chase, the blonde boy who was the teachers pet when grown ups were looking but liked to push people around on the playground behind the slides when they weren’t._

_Laura glared at Chase. “Hey you know she was sitting there!” “Yeah well I’m sitting here now. The pest can go find another seat.”_

_Laura fumed. How dare he talk to them like that? “The only pest I see around here is you!” Chase stood up angrily, towering over Laura as he grabbed her arm and twisted it, pinning it to her back. The brunette scrambled up from the floor and was shocked to see Laura, struggling to get out of what looked like a very painful arm lock. After a quick second decision, she ran up to Chase and kicked him hard in the shin. Chase, painfully surprised, cried out and released Laura’s arm just as she turned out of it and bit him in the hand. Hard._

_Everyone in the classroom turned to look as Chase screamed in pain. Ms. Dalton ran over, fire lighting up her eyes as she took in the situation. Laura, with her teeth sunk into Chase’s hand, and the girl, kicking his shin over and over._

_“Carmilla Karnstein and Laura Hollis! Principal’s office! NOW!” Laura released the pained boy in shock. “B-But he was…. And we were….” “I don’t care! Both of you to the office now!” Laura and Carmilla (Laura was glad to finally get her name even if it wasn’t the best situation) scrambled over each other to get out of the door and away from Ms. Dalton’s fury._

_“So your name is Carmilla huh?”_

_“Yup.”_

 

Laura groaned as she stumbled onto her mattress and flopped down. Her muscles were screaming in exhaustion and she could barely keep her eyes open. She was so tired she barely even noticed that her room smelled like mothballs and cheap liquor. Her and her dad had spent the entire day moving everything from their old house to their new house, except for a few big things that the two of them just couldn’t lift by themselves, no matter how many different positions and angles they tried.

Laura thought over the day’s events. After her unfortunate run in with Carmilla, her dad insisted they try to move as much as they could in one day. Moving trucks were expensive anyway and they couldn’t afford to have it for too long.

Laura’s face soured. She knew the real reason why her dad decided to move them. It was obvious.

It was around the last month of school when Laura began to notice the signs that things weren’t going so well. Her dad was home a lot more, saying he was on a long vacation to relieve stress. When she offered Chinese food for their weekly “Friday Night Take-Out” he insisted they should stop doing that because it was “unhealthy for them”, even though Laura had cheer practice almost every night and her dad worked out in their home gym daily. They stopped hosting parties for their family friends and her dad stopped paying for her Krav Maga lessons. Thankfully he let her keep doing school cheer, but only because it was free.

Every time Laura would ask what was going on and why they were being so careful with money, her dad would immediately change the conversation or give her a half ass excuse of “Why wouldn’t we be careful with money. It doesn’t grow on trees you know!”.

Laura knew her dad had lost his job. She had seen the stacks of newspapers all flipped to the Classifieds with bright red circles covering almost every inch. She had overheard her dad on the phone talking about savings and loans with the bank. She had seen him with his head in his hands with stacks of bills laid out in front of him. He could give all the excuses he wanted but Laura knew the truth. Her dad had lost his job and now they were paying for it.

The shrill ringing over her phone interrupted her grim thoughts, startling her out of her reverie as she flipped out of the mattress and onto the smelly floor. Shrieking when her hand landed in something foreign and wet, she quickly stood up and jumped back onto her bed frantically wiping her hand on a random t-shirt found in her suitcase of clothes.

Shuddering, she pulled her phone out of her back pocket and answered it when she saw **Danny Lawrence** flashing across the screen.

“H-Hello?”

 

“Hey Hollis! How’s the move going? Sorry I couldn’t help out but Kirsch forced me to participate is this stupid new game he created for his summer project.”

 

“It’s totally fine Danny! And this move is awful. The new house is terrible and gross and has a weird smell in every room and bugs and foreign stains and—“

 

“Woooah take a breath Hollis. Don’t need you passing out on me now.” Danny joked.

           

Laura grimaced as she thought about how whiny she must sound. “Sorry. This house just really sucks. I miss my old house. And I miss living next to you.”

            Laura and Danny had been neighbors for pretty much their entire lives. They had been friends since 2nd grade and hung out everyday after school. Danny was her best friend and when they got to high school, Danny joined the football team with Kirsch and Laura joined cheerleading.

            “I miss you too. Why did you move anyway?” Danny asked, solemnly. Laura internally panicked. She wasn’t ready to tell anyone about her dad losing his job and how they had to downsize. Even though Laura knew Danny would understand, it was still embarrassing.

            “Oh um well you see… we wanted to be closer to the ducks!” Laura slapped herself. _Seriously… the ducks??_ Danny was silent for a few seconds. “…The…. Ducks?” She sounded very unconvinced and Laura quickly scrambled to cover up her stupid excuse. “I mean… The lake! Yeah! We wanted to be closer to the lake!” Danny’s chuckle floated through the line. “You’re a weird one Laura Hollis.” Laura let out a nervous laugh. “Yep that’s me. Laura Hollis! Queen of the Weird!”

            “So how’s the new neighborhood? Any new neighbors to replace me?” Laura’s stomach dropped as she remembered with a groan exactly who was replacing Danny.

“Ugh. Unfortunately. You will never believe who my neighbor is.” Laura said.

 

“Who?”

 

“Carmilla Karnstein.”

 

“WHAT????”

 

            Laura had to hold the phone a foot away from her ear at her best friend’s outburst. “You mean to tell me that asshole is living next to you??” Danny practically shouted. “Um yes” Laura squeaked out. “Listen Laura you need to stay away from her. She is bad news. Like really bad news. I’ve heard a lot of stories about her, some that shouldn’t ever be repeated.” Laura got up from her bed and started pacing as she listened to Danny rant about how awful Carmilla was.

            Danny’s words suddenly reminded Laura of Fourth grade. How her and Carmilla had been the best of friends, getting into all kinds of trouble. Seeing Carmilla today had sparked something inside of Laura. Feelings of guilt and remorse started to creep through her. She smiled to herself as she remembered how many times they had been sent to the principal’s office. How after the eighth time (they had had a tally going) her parents weren’t even surprised anymore. They would just shake their heads and sign the behavior form.

Laura felt the twist in her gut like a knife as she remembered how her mom used to just smile and shake her head, almost as if she was saying “these kids and their crazy shenanigans”. She quickly shut down her thoughts and patiently waited for Danny to finish talking.

            “Look just stay away from her okay? Call me if she tries to hurt you or anything.” Danny said, her anger veering off into worry.  “Yeah I promise Danny.” Laura walked over to her window and peeked out, looking at the house next to hers. She noticed a window directly across from her window and saw as the light turned on inside and a tired looking Carmilla walked in. Laura squeaked and dropped down to the floor underneath her windowsill.

            “What? What’s wrong??” Danny asked, sounding a little panicked. Laura ignored her as she slowly peered through her moldy curtain. Carmilla had grabbed a T-shirt and was walking around the room. Laura gasped, blushing profusely as Carmilla turned her back to the window and peeled her shirt off. Laura couldn’t pull her eyes off of the beautiful porcelain skin and the black bra Carmilla was sporting. _God Laura could you not be gay for like 5 seconds? Now you’re a creeper._ Laura thought to herself, quickly tearing her eyes away and dropping back down onto the floor. Great not only did they live next door to each other, now their rooms were directly across from each other.

            “Laura?!” Danny was now full on panicking. “What? Sorry Danny I got um… distracted.” Laura said. “Don’t scare me like that jeez.” “Sorry.” The blonde girl apologized, not feeling sorry at all. “Anyway Kirsch is throwing a party tomorrow night at his house. You in?” Laura didn’t trust her voice. Peeking once more out of her window, totally not to see if Carmilla was still shirtless or anything, Laura saw that the room was now empty of a shirtless Carmilla. Laura refused to acknowledge the disappointment, instead focusing on the sign that was now taped to Carmilla’s window.

****

**_Like what you see?_ **

 

Laura blanched. No way Carmilla could’ve noticed her peeking. Hearing Danny’s voice asking her again if she wanted to go to the party, Laura numbly accepted. Staring at the messy scrawl of the handwritten sign, Laura felt her heart speed up as she hung up on Danny midsentence.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Find me on tumblr sweetlybeautifulenemy.tumblr.com


	6. Coffee Shop Blues

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Guess whose back, back? Back again, -gain.  
> Ha yeah so THAT was a really long break. Stupid school and work. But now I'm on christmas break so more time to write!

_Frosty, winter air blew Carmilla’s short bangs to the side as she pulled a whining Laura behind her towards the most secluded spot on the playground. A spot she had discovered in the first grade, when a few fifth graders pushed her out of their game of kickball, causing her to fall back behind the dugout. It had soon become Carmilla’s special place, her own solitude from the world and rude children who did nothing but get on her nerves while she read. She had promised herself not to tell anyone about this spot ever, and yet, here she was, about to reveal her secret to a girl she had only known for a week._

_“Carm, I really don’t think this is safe. What if one of us gets hurt and the teachers can’t find us because we are hiding? What if you break your leg and I can’t find my way back to the building? Or what if—“ Laura gasped. “—We get attacked by a ferocious bear and I can’t get my bear spray out in time to fight it off and—“ Carmilla groaned. “Laura, oh my god, will you shut up for two seconds. My ears are going to fall off.” They continued their pace towards the kickball field, Carmilla smiling softly as she got closer to her safe spot while Laura followed her, grumbling about rudeness and safety concerns._

_When they neared the field, Carmilla quickly scanned the area, making certain they weren’t being followed. Kids were running around, swinging, and playing tag while teachers talked in a huddle near the door. Carmilla let out an affirmative noise._

_“Gosh Carm this must be soooome special place you got here.” Laura said, watching Carmilla looking around quickly. “Well this place is for our eyes only. I don’t want anyone else knowing about it.” She quickly moved aside a few rocks, revealing a small crevice hidden by low tree branches between the dugout and outside fence. “Carm this can’t be safe at all. My dad warned me about stuff like this! We could get trapped!” Laura whined. “Oh come on! Where’s your taste for adventure?” Carmilla said, moving the branches aside and squeezing herself through the hole. Laura was hesitant to follow._

_“I’m not going Carmilla.” Laura said, crossing her arms and standing her ground. At the sound of her full name, Carmilla froze mid-butt wiggle. She turned around and poked her head out, giving Laura a serious look._

_“Do you trust me?”_

_“Huh?”_

_“I said, ‘do you trust me?’”_

_Laura gave her a peculiar look. Even though she had only known the dark brunette for a short period of time, already she felt like they were best friends. After the whole incident with Chase (which neither parents were very happy about and Laura was forever terrified of Carmilla’s mom) they had begun to talk more. They would partner up for every project and play games during free time in class. The only time Laura never saw Carmilla was on the playground, where she would mysteriously disappear as soon as they got outside. Now, Laura figured, this was the place she would go off to._

_“I mean yeah I guess so.” Laura replied after a moment._

_“Then just follow me and quit being a baby.” Carmilla said, turning back around and into the opening. Laura, now mumbling about being called a baby, followed her, maneuvering around any obtrusive tree branches and sharp rocks._

_Her eyes widened as the small hovel opened up in front of her. It was gorgeous. Vines climbed up the outside fence, growing long and lustrous, covering the small space in a beautiful botanical roof that let little sunlight in. Leaves littered the ground and flowers grew along the side of the dugout fence. Two rocks were situated in the middle of the magical burrow with Carmilla lounging on the one nearest the dugout fence. She was studying Laura’s reaction with acute attentiveness and a little bit of apprehension._

_“It’s okay if you don’t like it… just please don’t tell anyone else about it.” Carmilla said quietly, looking everywhere but at Laura. “I don’t like it…” Laura whispered. “I LOVE IT!!” Carmilla’s head flew up from its drooping position, a smile lighting up her features. Laura plopped herself down on the rock next to Carmilla’s giving her a big hug._

_“It’s so cool! It’s like our own little world in here! How did you even find it?” Carmilla gave her a soft smile and chuckled. “I’ve known about this place since the first grade. Some dumb fifth graders pushed me out of their kickball game and little ole me rolled into the bushes. Been coming here every recess for the past couple of years. You’re the only person who knows about it so please don’t tell anyone about it. Promise?” Laura, eyes bright, proudly pushed up her pinky finger and held it out to a sighing Carmilla. “I pinky promise!” Carmilla reluctantly held up her pinky finger, gripping Laura’s in a silent promise. They sat there in comfortable silence for a few moments holding pinkies and smiling at each other. Suddenly, Laura gasped, releasing Carmilla’s pinky with wide eyes and a gigantic smile._

_“You know what this place reminds me of?” Laura exclaimed with a mischievous smile as Carmilla’s eyes widened in knowing._

_“Don’t you dare say it!”_

_“The Forbidden forest!!”_

_Carmilla groaned. “You don’t ever shut up about that stupid book do you?”_

_Laura gasped, mouth open and eyes wide. “Stupid?! Oh you did not just say that.” She said, quickly jumping on top of the rock with her hands on her hips and her nose in the air. Carmilla groaned again, knowing exactly what was coming. She had only known the excitable girl a week but it didn’t take a genius to know that Laura Hollis only did three things: Eat, Sleep, and Rant._

_“Harry Potter is a the foundation of this society. It has totally redefined wizardry in the modern world using themes from other works such as_ Wuthering Heights _and the famous epic_ The Illiad. _It was a huge turning point in history how dare you say its ‘Stupid”. You’re stupid.” Laura huffed. Carmilla blinked at her. “Have you even read those stories?” “No but Wikipedia has!” Laura shifted her weight to one side, the action causing the rock she was standing on to roll out from beneath her, causing her to topple off and land on her butt._

_Carmilla burst out laughing. Laura, unamused and in pain, scrambled off the ground and rubbed her butt, glaring at Carmilla who was clutching her stomach and rolling around on the ground._

_“Ow Carm It’s not funny! That really hurt!” Laura whined._

_“I-it was t-totally f-f-fun-“ She burst out into another fit of laughter, tears streaming out of her eyes as the images of Laura falling replayed in her mind. Laura huffed, crossing her arms and turning her back to Carmilla. So it had been a little funny but that didn’t give Carmilla the right to keep laughing at her._

_“Oh come on.” Carmilla said, finally composing herself at the sight of Laura ignoring her. “It was pretty funny.” Laura harrumphed, sticking her nose up in the air but the corner of her mouth twitched. Suddenly, two hands roughly grabbed her by the shoulders, turning her around. Laura jumped a little at the sight of Carmilla suddenly so close._

_“Finally your clumsiness pays off!” Carmilla exclaimed, a bright smile adorned on her face. Laura blinked at her, utterly lost._

_“You just gave me a wonderful Idea!”_

 

            The fresh smell of coffee and sweet delicacies greeted Carmilla as she opened the door to _The Silas Steam_ , a popular coffee shop smack dab in the middle of the small town. It was one of the few coffee places around and one of the best, unless you wanted to drive forty-five minutes to the nearest Starbucks.

            Carmilla dropped her bag in the back room and tugged on her blue apron. She had developed a Pros and Cons list of working here and being forced to wear a dirty blue, probably vintage by now, apron was definitely not on the good side.

            “Yo Karnstein! What it do baby blue?”

            “Who wants CAWFEE?”

Oh yeah, and her friends JP and Lafontaine worked here also, but she hadn’t decided which side of the list they went on.

            Carmilla’s eye twitched. “If you ever call me that again, _John Paul,_ I will screw out your eyeballs and serve them in martinis.”

            JP put his hands up in surrender. “Hey hey no need to bring out the full names here. I’m only making a joke.” JP eyed Carmilla curiously. “You seem a tad irritated today,” Carmilla shot him a glare. “Well more so than usual. Did your skinny jeans shrink in the wash again?” Laf snickered as Carmilla plopped down on a stool, propping her feet up on the counter (a habit her boss continuously berated her on) and pulled out her book of the week, _A Grief Observed_.

            “I’m fine.” She replied coolly, thumbing through the thin book to the page she left off. JP and Laf shared a look but decided to let it go, figuring it was just another one of Carmilla’s moods.

            The day went by slowly and annoyingly. There had been less than three customers in the past four hours (all three of which were annoying hipsters who couldn’t figure out the difference between 2% and skim) and Carmilla felt like she was going to explode. It was beginning to reach the hottest part of the day, almost 100 degrees, and Lafontaine was trying to figure out how to jumpstart the broken AC.

            “Seriously, after the extreme amount of complaints we have sent in, you would think Mr. Graves would find the time to at least provide us with some sort of cooling device. Maybe a battery powered fan or something!” Lafontaine ranted as they furiously flipped through the system manual of the air conditioner. “He wouldn’t want to spend his precious money on us lowly workers especially after paying our mean wage of $7.28 an hour.” Carmilla replied, using her book as a makeshift fan. “Oh boy! Isn’t he so gracious as to give us three whole cents above the minimum wage! Come let us bow at his feet in gratitude!” JP added in, bowing towards the picture of their boss hanging on the wall next to the menu.

            “Now I do very much think you ought to be bowing at my feet in gratitude as I am the one providing you with a job and a paycheck. We wouldn’t want that to change now would we, Mr. Paul?” A rough voice called out. JP winced as he slowly turned around to face the very angry man standing at the door. Lafontaine scrambled off the stepladder and Carmilla quickly removed her feet off the counter.

            Mr. Graves was a mean, little man standing at an intimidating 4’11” with a chubby face and a wide body. He was constantly popping in to “check up” on them and was always trying to get away with spending as little money as possible. Including docking their pay for every little infraction, which Carmilla was certain, was illegal.

            “Um… Heeeeey Mr. Graves long time no see sir! How’s Susan? Is she still in charge of the PTA or did Angela finally take her down?”

            “Stuff it, Mr. Paul.” Mr. Graves snarled.

            “Yes sir!” JP saluted, shuffling around to go stand next to Carmilla and Lafontaine. Honestly, Carmilla isn’t sure how JP hasn’t been fired yet, given the amount of times he’s tried to sass their ill-tempered boss.

            “Now you three. I’ve been hearing some complaints from a few loving customers. We all know our company policy I presume?”

            “The customer is always right, no matter how wrong they are.” They all droned in sync.

            “Exactly. Now I won’t be losing money because a few hooligans can’t figure out how to work a damn coffee machine!” Mr. Graves said, vibrating with anger.

            Carmilla clenched her jaw. They were always getting blamed for stupid shit like this. She hated her job with a passion and if it wasn’t for Will and his need for food and clothing, she would have stormed out with the flip of the finger and a “Fuck You” on her tongue.

            Mr. Graves gave them one last glare before storming out of the coffee shop, but not without a “I’m docking your pay!” on his last breathe.

            The three of them stood there in silence, watching as their boss’s Mini Cooper sped away. Lafontaine quickly scooped up the manual and situated themselves back on the stepladder while JP got to cleaning up the counter and sweeping up coffee grinds.

            Carmilla was just about to crack open her book when the coffee shop bell went off signaling the arrival of a customer. Carmilla groaned. She really was not in the mood to deal with some idiotic hipster after being chewed out by the boss.

            She unenthusiastically jumped up to the cash register and was about to greet them with the company welcome when— “Oh you have got to be kidding me.”

            It was the walking beanstalk and the pop princess. Of course it was them. Because nothing wanted to go right today.

            Danny glared at Carmilla as her and Laura walked up to the counter. “Ugh you work here?”

            “So Xena has a brain. Glad to know it’s not all brawn.” Carmilla replied apathetically. She really did not want to deal with the orange giant’s humungous ego.

            Laura gave Carmilla a shaky smile. “Look can we just get two large hot chocolates to-go please?”

            Carmilla quickly typed in the order and wrote their names on the cups, trying to desperately get them out of the shop so that the awkward air would dissipate. JP was working on the hot chocolates while Carmilla stared off into space, tapping her fingers to an unknown rhythm while Laura fidgeted and Danny glared. The coffee shop was entirely to quiet, with the only sounds being Lafontaine’s hammering on the AC and the coffee machine.

            Finally, _finally,_ JP smacked the cups onto the counter and Laura quickly grabbed them, throwing a five-dollar bill over her shoulder. Carmilla let out a sigh in relief but before the two could get out the door, Laura turned around.

            “So… listen there’s this party tonight at my friend Kirsch’s house? You know? The quarterback for our football team? It’s going to be a lot of fun so come if you want! Okay bye!” She quickly turned around, grabbing a fuming Danny (whose cup looked like it was on the verge of being crushed into a million pieces) and practically ran out of the shop before Carmilla had the chance to even utter the word, “uhhh”.

            JP sidled up next to Carmilla, a sly grin adorning his face. “Well would you look at that. An invite to a fancy prep party from the one and only Laura Hollis. We are so going!” He said excitedly. “Hey did you hear that Laf—“

BOOM!

            JP and Lafontaine scrambled around, attempting to put out the now flame engulfed air conditioner while Carmilla still stood shell shocked at the door where Laura had exited previously.

            A football party? Well this was going to be interesting.

 


End file.
